Thread tensioning means



March 10, 1953 c. s. COLE 2,630,836

THREAD TENSIONING MEANS Original Filed Oct. 11. 1947 2 SHEETS-Sl-IEET l ENTOR. zzw/szfm d. 6014' BY MLM'M ATTORNEY 2 SHEETS SHEET 2 C. S. COLE THREAD TENSIONING MEANS March 10, 1953 Original Filed Oct. 11, 1947 INVENTOR. C/AMZZJ J. 6015 11ml AJ M ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 10, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Charles S. Cole, .Sandy Hook, Conm, assignor to Fabric FireHose Company, Sandy: Hook, Conm, a corporation. of New York.

Original application October 11, 1947, Serial No.

779,243, now Patent No. 2,609,838, datedf September 9, 1952. Dividedandthis application March 26,1952, .Serial No. 278,612

4' Claims. 1

This invention relates to thread tensioni-ng means adapted to control accuratelythe tension of an advancing thread, and is particularly well adapted to control the tension of the warp yarns of a circular loom.

The present application is adivision: of m-yicopending application Serial 'No. 779,243, filed October 11, 1947, whichhas matured into Patent N 0. 2,609,838.

The parent application, just mentioned, is. directed to a circular loom developed primarily for weaving strong heavy tubes for the manufacture of fire hose. Such tubes are made of strong coarse warp and weft yarns that are woven .under high tension. The present divisional application relates more particularly to warp tensioning means for controlling the tension of the large number of strong coarse warp yarns that form the warp of the tubular fabric.

The weft yarns as well as the warp. yarns used in fire hose are strong and coarse, vandtheiweft packages are large. It is therefore necessaryto so build the shuttle that it will accommodate a large weft package. This means that the loom shed must be opened relatively wide to permit wide the warp yarns must be displaceda substantial distance from their central or free shed posi tion, and the wider the shed is opened thegreater the tension that is placed upon such warp yarns. The. strong coarse warp yarns forming such shed are diflicult .to stretch in. the, loom far enough to accommodate their displacement from the free shed position to shuttle clearing position. Therefore the present invention contemplates spring tensioningmeans for the various warp yarns which operate to maintain a substantially-uniform tension on these yarns as they move quickly to and from the shed open position.

The warp tensioningmeans ofthe present invention' preferably comprises a long spring finger or spring. blade held at one end, and adapted .to bend forward as the tension upon a yarn or thread is increased and to springback and take up the slack as a warp yarn moves from the shed open to the shed closed position. One of these spring fingers is preferably provided for each warp yarn or possibly each two warp yarns.

'I'he present invention also contemplates yarn pinching means and 21. yarn snubbing post adapted to retard the travel ofa yarn or thread to the spring finger. The pinching means comprises a fixed. member about which. the; thread slides and which is positioned sothat the spring fingernormally pinches the thread thereagainst. 'Ihisservesto prevent the thread from being jerked forward from its source of supply as it is forced rapidly-tothe shed opening position by the rapidly rotating shuttle, and to help the spring fingers to maintain a highly uniformed tension upon all of the Warp threads. The location of this pinching means is such that the thread passes therefrom to a snubbing post and fromthe snu'bbing post to .a thread guide at the outer end of the spring finger. As a result of this construction the warp thread. can be drawn around the snubbing post only when the spring finger is flexed forward sufficiently to release its pinching pressure upon such thread. Due to the take up action just described of the spring finger and to the pinching action andthe snubbing action, the tension of the warp threads during the weaving operation is accurately controlled. The tension maintained on each warp thread will depend upon the stiffness of the spring finger controlling such thread.

The above and other featuresof the present invention will be further understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings; wherein,

Fig; 1 is a side elevation with parts in section of. asubstantialportion of a circular loom equipped with the thread tensioningmeans of the present invention;

Fig. 2.is a front view of such tensioning means;

Fig. 3.15 a side view of the tensioning means, and;

Fig. 4' is a perspective view of a-thread-engaging'plate.

The thread tensioning means, of thepresent invention, may be employed in various fields whereit is desired to maintain a highly uniform tension on a strong yarn or thread, but it is par,- ticularly well adapted to control the tension of the warp threads of a circular loom, where such threads arersubjected to varying tensions as they are forced outwardly to the open shed position by the rotating shuttle and then move inwardly to theshed' closed position. These varying tensions-upon the warp threads increase in intensity as the; speed at which the. shuttle rotates in"- creases. While the tension means of the present invention is shown in' connection with acircular loom, it is desired to point out that this novel tension means may be. used. in various fields where ahighly accurate control of the tension of an advancing thread is desired.

Thecircular loom of Fig; l of the drawings has a heavy, longitudinally extending outer franie 3 l0, only slightly more than half of which is shown in the drawing. This frame is provided at one end with the integral annular boss H and at the other end with the integral annular boss I2. Within the boss I2 is mounted a ring [3 through which the woven tubular fabric F advances as this fabric is produced. The boss II is provided with a tapered bore adapted to receive a central tubular shaft I4 rigidly clamped therein by the nut l5, and on this central shaft i4 is rotatably mounted by means of ball bearings a power rotated hollow shaft it which is provided with a belt wheel H. The inner shaft 14 is relatively long and is provided at its left hand end with a shuttle supporting wheel, not shown, but which wheel forms a runway for the shuttle supporting rollers I 8, three of such rollers being provided spaced 120 apart around the shuttle, only one of these rollers is shown.

The present loom is provided with a single shuttle that extends nearly entirely around the central axis of the loom, and this shuttle is formed primarily of the frustro-conical shell 19 which is provided along one side with a relatively wide slot or opening through which the warp threads may pass toand from the interior of the shuttle. This shuttle is supported at one end by the rollers l8 and is supported at its other end by a conical sleeve 20 which is bolted to a flange portion 2| of the shuttle. This conical sleeve extends into the fabric surrounding sleeve 13 and cooperates therewith to support this end of the shuttle. The shuttle shell 19 is provided with mechanism, not shown, for supporting two weft packages thereon disposed 180 apart, and in order to prevent the warp threads from contacting these packages the shuttle is provided with the outwardly extending guards 22 and 23 and the longitudinally inclined guards 24 and 25, and these guards 24 and 25 help to form the shuttle nose 26. All of the mechanism so far described by reference numeral is more fully shown and described in the above-mentioned parent application.

Within the main longitudinally extending frame I0 is mounted a heavy warp supporting ring 21 that is rigidly bolted to the frame l0, and the ring 21 has extending inwardly therefrom the annular flange 28. The inner portion of this annular flange is provided with the annular ring 29 which supports by means of the bolts 30 a reed ring 3! having the inwardly projecting reed fingers 32. The ring 29 also supports the comb ring 33 having the spacing pins 34. Above the main frame I 0 is supported a thread guide plate 35 having holes therein to receive the numerous warp threads W and these warp threads pass to the tensioning means forming the subject matter of the present invention. The warp threads W are shown as forming an opening shed as they extend from the spacing pins 34 to the fabric surrounding ring I3, and these warp threads when one is displaced inwardly to lie inside the shuttle and another is displaced outwardly to lie outside of the shuttle, together form a geometric figure closely resembling a parallelogram wherein the sum of the length of the two sides of the figure formed by the inward displaced thread is equal to the sum of the length of the two sides of the figure formed by the outwardly displaced warp threads. This is important because in such a construction the inwardly displaced thread and outwardly displaced thread will be subjected to substantially the same tension.

4 The formation of the shed is efiected by a star wheel or selector wheel 35 in cooperating with the outwardly projecting nose 26 of the shuttle. This star wheel is mounted to rotate freely on a shaft 31 adjustably supported by an arm 38 which arm is mounted upon the rotating tubular shaft [6 by the split sleeve 39. This sleeve and arm support the selector wheel so that it can be accurately positioned with respect to the shuttle nose 25 and with respect to the reed fingers 32. The shuttleis rotated about the longitudinal central axis of the loom by a pusher wheel 40 that is carried by the tubular shaft l6 through the outwardly extending arm 4|, and as the hollow shaft I6 is rotated by its pulley I! the pusher wheel will press against the roller l8 at the heel end of the shuttle to push the shuttle around.

Having described briefly the construction and operation of the circular loom shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the warp tensioning means forming the subject matter of the present invention will now be described, and it will be seen from the open shed position of the warps W that these warps are subjected to a pronounced variation in tension as they are shifted back and forth from the shed open position in which they are shown to the shed closed position. In order to accommodate this variation in the tension upon these warp threads W such threads are provided with relatively long spring fingers or blade fingers 42 which are rigidly secured at one end to the heavy ring frame 21 by bolts 43, and each finger is provided at its other or free end with a thread guide 44. The manner in which the spring finger 42 operates to maintain uniform tension upon a warp thread W as it is moved to and from the shed open position is well illus trated in Fig. 3 of the drawing, wherein will be seen that the spring finger springs to the right to take up slack in the warp thread W and yields to the left to reiieve the tension on this warp thread.

In accordance with the present invention the spring finger 42 cooperates with a pinching member 45 comprising a relatively long metal plate that is held clamped against the upper end portion of the spring finger 42 by the clamping bolts 43, and this pinching member 45 is provided at its lower end with a projecting horn 46. The arrangement is such that a warp thread W upon leaving the thread guide plate 35 passes downwardly in contact with the upper bolt 33 and then passes part way around the lower bolt 43 under the bolt shoulder 41. This thread passes downwardly from the lower bolt 43 diagonally across the outer face of the pinching member 45 to pass under the horn 43. It then passes upwardly diagonally across the pinching member 45 as indicated by the arrow and is looped one or more times around the recess portion of the lower bolt 43 which acts as a snubbing post. The thread then passes downwardly from this snubbing post to the thread guide 44 at the lower end of the spring finger 42 and this guide is shaped somewhat like a saddle over which the thread can slide without chafing. The purpose in causing the thread to pass beneath the horn 46 as abovementioned is to subject it to a pinching action by the finger 42 at all times except when this finger is subjected to a near maximum warp tension. That is, as long as the finger 42 is in its full line position or is in any other position to the right of this full lin position the thread will be subjected to a clamping pressure, but when this finger is pulled to the dot and dash line shown at the left in Fig. 3 the pinching action upon the warp thread around the horn 46 will be relieved so as to allow the thread to slide about this horn and around the snubbing post, and then to the lower end of the spring finger to pass through the loom and to the weaving point of the fabric. In order to reduce any tendency of the spring finger 42 to chafe the warp thread durin the pinching operation, it is found desirable to provide a thin sheet metal plate in position to overlie the thread pinching portion of the spring finger. Such a plate designated by 48 is shown in Fig. 4 of the drawing and has the holes 49 adapted to receive the clamping bolts 43 which retain this plate in place. The lower end of this plate is provided with the bent ears 58 adapted to straddle the finger 42, so that the thread will be pinched between the smooth outer face of this plate 48 and the base of the horn 46. The ears 50 are bent as shown to provide a smooth round edge at the base of each ear over which the thread slides.

The thread tensioning means of the present invention which is best illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing operates in an extremely satisfactory manner to maintain a substantially uniform tension upon a warp thread during the weaving operation, and to prevent the thread from being jerked forward from its source of supply by the quick displacing operation of the rapidly rotating shuttle. The operation of such tensioning device is such that the thread cannot pass from the snubbing post to the lower end of the finger 42 as long as this thread is being pinched as above described, but can slide around the snubbing post when the spring finger 42 is subjected to sufiicient thread tension to spring this finger out of the thread clamping position.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. Tensioning means for controlling the tension of the warp threads of a circular loom, comprising long spring fingers rigidly held at one end and each having a warp thread guide at its other end and arranged so that a pull upon the warp thread engaging its guide will flex the finger, a pinching member near said finger and adapted to be engaged by a thread extending to said guide, a thread snubbing post positioned to be engaged and encircled by the thread passing from the pinching member to said guide, said finger being adapted to cooperate with the pinching member to pinch a thread extending from said member to the snubbing post, and operable normally to pinch the thread to prevent it from sliding around the snubbing post but adapted to release such thread when the finger is subjected to sufficient stress to bend it a substantial amount.

2. Thread tensioning means, comprising a long spring finger rigidly held at one end and having a thread guide at its other end and arranged so that a pull upon the warp thread engaging its guide will flex the finger, a pinching member near said finger and adapted to be engaged by a thread extending to said guide, a thread snubbing post positioned to be engaged and encircled by the thread passing from the pinching member to said guide, said finger being adapted to cooperate with the pinching member to pinch a thread extending from said member to the snubbing post, and operable normally to pinch the thread to prevent it from sliding around the snubbing post but adapted to release such thread when the finger is subjected to sufiicient stress to bend it a substantial amount.

3. Thread tensioning means comprising a spring finger held at one end and having a thread guide at its free end, a fixed member having a thread engaging portion positioned so that the thread sliding over such portion will be pinched and released by the flexing of said finger, and a snubbing post positioned to be encircled by the thread as it passes from said pinching portion to said thread guide, whereby if the tension of the thread at said thread guide is high the spring finger will be held out of its thread pinching position, and it will pinch the thread when the thread tension decreases, to thereby tension the thread and regulate its movement around the snubbing post.

4. Thread tensioning means, comprising a long spring finger rigidly held at one end and having a guide at its other end arranged so that a pull upon the thread engaging its guide will flex the finger, a fixed member having a thread engaging portion near the finger and adapted to be engaged by a thread extending to said guide, a thread retarding member positioned between said portion and said guide, said finger being positioned so that it normally pinches the thread against said portion but releases such pinching pressure when it is bent a substantial amount by the pull of such thread on its guide, whereby this thread can advance relatively to the retarding member to the finger guide only when it is subjected to sufiicient tension to bend the finger a substantial amount.

CHARLES S. COLE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 174,763 Bickford Mar. 14, 1876 396,907 Wilccmb Jan. 29, 1889 398,127 Calley Feb. 19, 1889 1,423,619 Loomis July 25, 1922 1,761,293 Clark June 3, 1930 2,108,773 Lawson Feb. 15, 1938 2,143,485 Janssen Jan. 10, 1939 

